How to Celebrate Thanksgiving While Studying Abroad

I’ve lived and studied in Germany for over three years now, and that means that I’ve missed a lot of holidays back home. I fly back to the States for Christmas and New Year’s, so I get to experience the biggest holidays of the year, but I really miss the Independence Day fireworks and parade, the Labor Day barbeques, and, of course, all the Saturday football games, which, in my house at least, are treated like holidays. But the biggest single thing I miss is coming up in just a few weeks: Thanksgiving.

In the United States, Thanksgiving is less about the holiday itself, which has dubious historical origins, than about the chance to spend a long weekend with your family and eat a disgusting amount of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and all manner of pies. Thanksgiving traditions vary regionally, but in general, these are the things that make the holiday so beloved.

Unfortunately, Thanksgiving is a purely American holiday, at least in its November incarnation, so it can be difficult to get into the spirit when studying abroad. I’ve had to find ways to create ersatz versions of what I’d normally have at home, and I’ve been lucky enough during the last three years to find many kindred spirits who were also interested in celebrating the questionable historicity of the coming together of the Pilgrims and Indians for a Thanksgiving feast 400 years ago.

Americans living and studying abroad have a lot of options for celebrating Thanksgiving – here are my suggestions:

1. Celebrate Thanksgiving with your local US consulate

If you live in any large city, you should check out the events page of your local US consulate. The consulate in Dusseldorf, for instance, helps to organize Thanksgiving dinners across the region, and this is a good place to start to look for events in your area, regardless of where you are studying.

2. Celebrate Thanksgiving with a business or cultural group

You can also look into private business or cultural groups that work to promote ties between the United States and the country where you are studying. Chambers of Commerce often host Thanksgiving events for their members, and students can often get in free. An example of this is the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany, which hosts Thanksgiving events every year.

Cultural organizations are also great places to look. I’ve attended the Thanksgiving dinner thrown by the German-American Association of Siegen-Wittgenstein for the past three years. Organizations like the German-American Association (Deutsche-Amerikanische Gesellschaft) are great resources for those living and studying abroad, and can be found across the world.

3. Celebrate Thanksgiving with other US students and academics

Ultimately, though, the best resource for students who want to celebrate Thanksgiving is the local network of American students and teachers at their university. One of the English professors at the University of Siegen, my home university, hosts a Thanksgiving dinner every year, featuring some of the best home cooking I’ve had since I moved to Germany. It’s always attended by a great crowd of locals and American expats, and the conversation often goes late into the night.

And that’s what Thanksgiving is really about and why I miss it so much; it’s not about the food, it’s about family. Which is why, regardless of where and how you celebrate Thanksgiving this year, I hope you do it surrounded by friends who make you feel like you’re still at home.